ORDER MY STEPS IN THY WORD

God’s Order for LeadershipBut because of unbelief, sin, and general short-comings, God never instructed Moses to takethem into the land of their inheritance. EvenMoses himself was not permitted to enter. Butnow the time was right, and God said to Joshua,“Joshua, get up. Quit stewing and fretting be-cause my great servant Moses is gone. You mustnow assume the leadership. So arise and go overthe Jordan.” And God didn’t stop there. Hegave Joshua some tremendous encouragement.No matter how great the enemy, no matterwhat the obstacle, when God has given the commandto go, you must move. So long as you andI live according to the greatness of God’s Word,all the enemies and all the obstacles of the worldcan’t stop us because God’s Word is powerfuland effective and it lasts forever!The Word of the Lord came and Joshua wasable to take over when Moses’ life ended. From asenses point of view, it would seem impossible tostep into the position just held by Moses. ButGod always has and always will make availablethe power, the knowledge, and the ability tocarry out a given responsibility.God told Joshua to arise. He didn’t tell him tosit and mourn for another six months to lamentthe fact that Moses was dead. Whenever a person—includinga man of God—dies, life for theliving doesn’t stop. The things of God must goon; therefore, the message would be the same todayas it was to Joshua, “Arise, get on the move,and overcome whatever hurdle there is in frontof you.”Originally, when Moses had brought Israel outof Egypt, God had planned for them to marchdirectly into the Promised Land and to inhabit it.122The Transfer of LeadershipJoshua 1:3:Every place that the sole of your foot shalltread upon, that have I given [past tense]unto you, as I said unto Moses.God put in the past tense what was yet to cometo pass. The children of Israel needed only toarise and go. God said, “Every place that thesole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I[already] given unto you.”Notice that God said, “I’ve already given it.”God repeated for Joshua the promise He hadmade to Moses and to the children of Israel inDeuteronomy 11:24. The God Who created theheavens and the earth is not going to let a littlething like the Jordan River stop Him from moving123